Chapter 7
ELLIE
This week was kicking my ass, and it was only Tuesday. After getting in a shipment of inventory yesterday, I spent the rest of my day unpacking and scanning everything into the computer. Then today, I steamed everything and made sure it was ready to be viewed.
Not that I had a ton of traffic these days.
There were still haters in town who thought I slept with Liam and ruined his relationship with Bailey. Oddly enough, no one seemed to hate Liam. Just the skank who sat on his lap at The Beaver and Boot.
I needed to find a way to move on with my life, away from Liam and the rumors swirling about me. But I couldn’t just pack up and move to a different town. I had friends here. I had family. And most importantly, I had my shop that I had slaved over for years.
I would not walk away from all that just because people couldn’t stop judging what they didn’t understand.
Setting my wine glass on the living room table, I grabbed my laptop and pulled up the site where Delaney uploaded my profile. I wasn’t all that hopeful that I would actually meet someone, but I was curious if anyone had at least responded to my picture.
To my surprise, I had ten men, one woman, and someone who claimed they were a chihuahua in another life. I snorted and declined all but the men.
The first guy was an automatic no. Wanna hook up?
“Not likely,” I said, immediately deleting his message.
The second guy wasn’t too bad. He was handsome and seemed like a good guy, but he was over forty miles away. I put him in the considering pile.
Not that I was actually considering any of these men. I was just curious.
Guy number three had too many piercings, and most of them were on his face.
Guys four, five, and six, I discounted because of the lack of information on their profiles. I understood not wanting to put too much information online, but nothing other than your name and profession seemed sketchy.
Number seven was definitely a possibility. Good-looking. Wholesome. “Aww, he’s a veterinarian,” I sighed when I saw the picture of him with his dog. “That’s a definite maybe.”
Moving on, I discounted eight and nine, but nearly spit out my wine when I saw the picture for number ten.
Not that I needed to see a picture to know who he was.
“Jack Harding. Holy shit,” I murmured, taking a minute to stare at all the tattoos on his hard chest.
Grabbing my phone, I dialed Josie, all the while staring at the sexy tattoo artist from town.
“Hello?” she asked breathlessly.
“Put down whatever you’re doing and go on the dating website and look at the hits on my profile.”
“Um…okay.”
“Baby, what are you doing?” JR said in the background.
“I have to check something out.”
“We’re in the middle of sex!”
His voice grew distant as she shuffled into the other room and grabbed her laptop. “Okay, looking now. What exactly am I—” She sucked in a sharp breath. “Nooooo. Holy crap!”
“Right?”
“Jack Harding has a dating profile?”
“I know! The man looks like he eats metal for meals, and he’s looking for love on a dating website.”
“Well, everyone needs to find love,” she chuckled.
“Still, I can’t believe it.”
“Babe, what are you—why are you looking at other men?” JR growled in the background.
“This isn’t for me.”
“It better not be for me,” he snapped.
“Uh…Ellie, I think I need to go.”
“Sure,” I sighed heavily. “Go have good monkey sex. I’ll just be here eating popcorn and drinking wine alone!” I called out right as she hung up.
Tossing the phone on the sofa, I went back through my maybes and dug a little further into them. If I really wanted to, I could fuck with Jack…
I brought up the messenger application and sent a quick hello.
Didn’t expect to see you here.
I wasn’t expecting an immediate reply, or any at all, but to my surprise, he was online and started typing.
Can’t expect to find someone in our small town. Why didn’t you expect me to be on here?
“Um…because you’re a tattooed bad boy that all the ladies in town dream about?” I chuckled, not that I would actually type that. The last thing I wanted was for anyone else in town to think I had something for yet another man in town. That would just be more fodder for our neck of the woods.
I thought you were seeing someone.
I tapped my nails on the computer, waiting for his reply. When it didn’t seem like he was going to answer, I almost shut everything down, but to my surprise, the bubbles popped up.
Shit happens.
That was an awfully long wait for such a short reply.
Wanna grab a drink?
“What?” I screeched, nearly tossing my wine in the air. “He wants to grab a drink?”
Um…like a date?
Like a drink. The Beaver. 10 minutes.
“Ten minutes?” I screeched again. “I can’t get ready in ten minutes! Then again, if this is just for a drink, he’s not going to be paying attention to how I look. Maybe he just wants a friend.”
I smacked myself on the forehead, pissed that I messaged him to begin with. I didn’t know what any of this meant, and that was really screwing with me.
It’s just a drink, Ellie. Put on your damn boots and meet me there.
Well, that sounded simple enough. Panic over, I gave a thumbs up and shut things down. There was no sense in wasting my wine, and I needed the liquid courage to sit next to Jack Harding. Even if he was just meeting me for the hell of it…it was Jack Harding.
Grabbing my purse and slipping into my boots, I headed out to the bar in my Jeep. I’d had this thing for going on ten years, and she was starting to cause a lot of problems, but it wasn’t like I could afford anything else right now.
Slamming the door, I tossed my purse over my shoulder and headed into the bar.
The moment I laid eyes on him, my heart did a little jump-skip in my chest. Not because I was attracted to him.
Well, not entirely. It was more like finally having your high school crush ask you out after years of waiting around.
I wasn’t really interested in him, but it was nice to be noticed.
I slid onto the barstool next to him and waved down Lizzy at the other end of the bar.
“Hey! You don’t usually come in during the week.”
I jerked my thumb at Jack. “Just meeting a friend. Red wine, please.”
“Going for the hard stuff tonight,” she grinned. “Coming right up.”
I spun in my seat to face the hulking man, surprised when I no longer felt tingles around him. He looked depressed. That wasn’t exactly a turn-on.
“So, what’s up?”
“Just needed a drink,” he sighed, rubbing a hand across his jaw.
“Bad breakup?”
“Why do you say that?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow at me.
“Well, you’re kind of a loner. You don’t really hang out with anyone from around town. You used to hang out with Wyatt, but I don’t see the two of you together very much anymore.”
“Been busy with work.”
“And he doesn’t really seem like the type of guy you’d talk about your troubles to.”
“Why’s that?”
“You two are both so…distant. You don’t get involved in town politics or gossip. You keep your head down and get work done. And since he’s not here with you, and you need a drink, I’m guessing that you broke up with what’s her face and just wanted someone to drink with.”
A small smirk tilted his lips as he peeled the label on his bottle. “Very insightful.”
“I was right?”
“Half right,” he said, tipping the bottle back, swallowing the last of the contents. “Not a breakup exactly.”
“Oh?”
“Hit-and-run.”
I was about to take a sip of wine, but stopped, staring at the man in complete shock. “She’s dead?”
“Hit out on route two by a drunk driver.”
Tears pricked my eyes. I didn’t know her. I’d only ever heard about her, but I couldn’t imagine what this man was going through. I didn’t know what to do. What did you say to a man you barely spoke to when his girlfriend died?
Instead of saying anything, I rested my hand on his arm and just sat with him. His eyes closed almost in relief, and for a good ten minutes, it was like it was just the two of us here.
“Thanks, Ellie May,” he said, getting up from his stool.
“You’re leaving?”
“Think I can go home now. I’ll catch you around town.”
I nodded, watching him go.
“What was that about?” Lizzy asked as he walked out the door.
“His girlfriend was killed in a hit-and-run by a drunk driver.”
“Oh my gosh,” she gasped. “I didn’t even know her.”
“Me neither. I just heard the rumors that he was seeing someone. I guess she wasn’t from around here.”
“When did this happen?” Lizzy asked.
“I don’t know. He’s so private that I doubt anyone even knew her name.”
“It’s hard to keep secrets in this town. I’m surprised no one else knew.”
I nodded, staring down at my wine. Suddenly, my problems seemed very insignificant. At least everyone I loved was alive and well.
“Well, I guess I’ll head home,” I said, finishing off my drink. “Who’s got Willa tonight?”
“She’s sleeping in my office. Couldn’t get anyone to watch her.”
“Oh, that sucks. You could have called me.”
She leaned on the bar, her eyes sparkling with mirth. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Ellie, but we aren’t exactly the best of friends.”
“Oh.” I was a little taken aback by her words.
“I mean, I wouldn’t feel comfortable calling you up and asking for such a huge favor. I like you, but asking you to watch a baby is not something you ask of a woman you don’t hang out with.”
“I get it, but if you ever do need help, just ask.”
“Thanks, I will. But just remember, you asked for it. She’s got a mouth on her.”
“She’s a baby. How bad could she be?”
Lizzy tossed her head back and laughed. “One of these days, you’ll find out.”
The bell chimed over the door just as I was turning. Immediate scorching heat raced down my throat when I saw him with her. I kept thinking I would get over it, that it wouldn’t hurt so damn much the way he had used me.
The way I had let Liam Parker use me.
But then I saw how happy he was with Bailey, and it was like a punch to the gut. And the moment she looked up at me, I saw the hatred in her eyes, the need to be as far away from me as possible.
With his hand on her back, Liam directed her to a table away from me, reminding me of my place.
He got the woman he loved, and I was getting the cold shoulder.
So much for helping out a friend.